LOOKING GOOD! SAF members have been promoting this year’s Petal It Forward like the pros they are online this year. Among some standout posts on Instagram that captured our attention were those from Lakeview Floral & Gifts in Menomonie, Wisconsin; Blooms in Hand in Montclair and Essex County New Jersey; Petersen & Tietz Florists in Waterloo, Iowa; Len Busch Roses in Plymouth, Minnesota; and Candlelight Floral and Gifts in the Twin Cities region.
Nearly 150 floral industry businesses from 35 states and two countries — the U.S. and Canada — have so far committed to participating in the Society of American Florists’ Petal It Forward event on Oct. 21. Through the feel-good giveaway, participating industry members hand out two bouquets or flowers to surprised recipients, one to keep and one to pass on to someone else. This year’s initiative has been reimagined to comply with pandemic restrictions, and there’s still time for additional businesses to sign on, said SAF’s CEO Kate Penn.
“Petal It Forward is especially timely this year, as so many Americans grapple with the mental health effects of the pandemic,” said Penn. “As an industry, we know that flowers inspire calm and help generate all kinds of positive feelings — SAF university research proves it! Petal It Forward is an ideal way to safely and effectively share that message in local communities.”
Industry members from all segments are again participating in the outreach this year, along with students and next-gen professionals eager to share their love of flowers.
Last October, for example, Katie Philipsek saw not one but three different news segments of smiling Minnesotans who’d been surprised with two bouquets during the 2019 Petal It Forward initiative. “I got goosebumps,” she said.
The next day, Philipsek, student senate liaison for the horticulture club at Central Lakes College in Brainerd, mentioned Petal It Forward to her instructors, who said they’d seen the same coverage and agreed it would be “a fantastic thing” to bring to their community, where they could reach a youthful demographic and show them the joy of giving flowers.
To begin preparing for the school’s inaugural event this year, Philipsek reached out to SAF through the association’s LiveChat service onsafnow.tempurl.host, while her instructor, Jeff Dirks, contacted his sales rep at Len Busch Roses in Minneapolis.
“Our school has a close relationship with Len Busch,” she explained. “We’ve had field trips there and we always use them as our wholesaler.” To help, the company is offering deeply discounted bouquets with enclosure cards explaining the Petal It Forward mission already attached.
“Everyone’s been wonderful,” Philipsek said. “Both SAF and Len Busch are helping make this as easy as possible for us.”
During a club meeting last week, members voted to proceed with a Petal It Forward event in spite of the pandemic, but said further discussions will be necessary, particularly concerning their budget and flower giveaway location.
“We wanted to do it outside Target, because Target is huge here in Minnesota, but that’s a big hard to do right now,” Philipsek said.
Instead, she thinks the club will set up two tables in front of the school’s main entrance, where students must undergo temperature checks and other screenings prior to admittance. “Our school’s a fraction of what it usually is. But I think we’d still we’d go through pretty quickly if we do it there,” she said.
Philipsek said she appreciates the wealth of resources on SAF’s website, including pre-written press releases and social media posts, as well as templates for sandwich boards, masks and T-shirts.
“I know from working past fundraisers for various nonprofits that t-shirts help you stand out and ramp up the energy,” she said. “And people love to collect t-shirts — think of all those road races!” And the sandwich board, she added, clearly advertises the event and shares COVID protocols, “which the college will appreciate.”
“We don’t know exactly how it will go yet, but I’m certain it’s going to be a great day,” Philipsek said.
Click here to register your business for this year’s event and find out more about SAF’s 2020 Petal It Forward initiative, including how to access updated tools and information that you can use to create and customize your own event.
Katie Vincent is the senior contributing writer and editor for the Society of American Florists.
